Asian – European wok

For the last year, as I’ve mentioned before in my posts, I’ve been learning Chinese, and I have to say I’ve fallen behind while working on my other obligations. In a few weeks I should continue with my studies, but not sure how much I remember. The reason why I started it in the first place was my admiration and interest in the Chinese culture, me wanting to go and visit China and of course the love of Asian food and cuisine.

Probably the most famous type of Asian dish in Croatia is wok prepared. It’s actually far from the real Asian food considering spices and ingredients but we call it Asian. I would say the food prepared and mostly sold on the street here is an Asian – European fusion, modern pairing of tastes, spices we use in Europe and ingredients from China.

While travelling all over Europe I had a chance to try different takes on Asian cooking. I also had a chance to try homemade authentic Chinese food when my Chinese language teacher called us over for a dinner party and she prepared lots of different dishes ranging from every part of her homeland. I loved everything she prepared, the balance of flavours, but still most of the ingredients she used, especially spices, are from China and can’t be found in our stores, So I’m sticking to my Asian – European fusion until my friends bring me some authentic spices and food from China.

Enjoy & happy cooking!

Preparation: 30 min

Cook time: 20 min

Servings: 4

Ingredients

300 g beef, sliced

2 tsp red paprika

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp Sriracha sauce

3 tsp Oyster sauce

100 g broccoli, sliced

100 g zucchini, sliced

80 g mushrooms, sliced

100 g cherry tomatoes, sliced

60 g onions, sliced

100 g red bell pepper, sliced

1 tsp lime juice

1 tsp ginger, sliced

1 clove garlic, sliced

2 tsp peanut oil

250 g noodles

Salt & pepper to taste

How to

Season the sliced beef with salt, pepper, red paprika, soy sauce, Sriracha sauce and Oyster sauce and leave it in a fridge to marinade.

Cook the noodles in a medium cooking pot and drain water, set them aside.

Heat peanut oil in a large wok. Add sliced onion and carrot in a wok. Toss for a minute or two, then add sliced beef together with the marinade. Cook for a few minutes until meat changes color before adding sliced broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper, garlic and ginger. Toss, cook until vegetables are cooked but still crisp. Finish by adding cherry tomatoes, noodles and lime juice.